


To Be Safe

by Otrera



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Triad Verse, Bottom Gabriel (Supernatural), Bottom Rowena MacLeod, Canon compliant until the end of s13e22 exodus, F/M, Gabriel doesn't die, I have no idea if the sex scenes are good sorry, M/M, Mentions of Dean/Cas/Jimmy, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Top Gabriel (Supernatural), Top Sam Winchester, Triad Verse Big Bang 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-20 23:39:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16147976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otrera/pseuds/Otrera
Summary: With a bunker full of people to save, will Sam have time to figure out his relationship with Gabriel and Rowena?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to my beta (@flaim-ita on tumblr) and my wonderful artist, HolyGuacamole. This is my first time participating in a Big Bang, and it was so much fun! I hope you guys enjoy the fic!

There was a person in his bed. Their arm was thrown over his chest, and if Sam leaned his head to the right, he could see a mop of curly red hair peeking out from his armpit. Slowly, Sam tried to sit up enough to figure out who he’d taken to bed.

The door creaked, and Sam forgot all about trying not to wake his bed partner. He jolted upright, grabbed his gun from the nightstand, and aimed in under two seconds.

Gabriel raised his hands in the air and dropped the pile of clothes he was carrying. “Whoa, hey, it’s just me!”

Sam lowered his gun. “Gabriel? What are you doing?”

Gabriel coughed awkwardly. “Uh, walk of shame?”

“Walk of— did we—?”

Sam’s bedfellow spoke up, her voice heavy with sleep. “Have sex? All night long.”

Sam almost dropped his gun. “Rowena?”

She propped herself up on one arm. “You don’t remember? I’m insulted.”

She rolled out of Sam’s bed and walked over to Gabriel, buck naked. Sam couldn’t help but notice how nice her ass was. It had cute little dimples in the sides. She cupped Gabriel’s cheek with one hand and rested the other on his chest.

“You know,” she said, “I wouldn’t be opposed to a repeat of last night. It was… quite enjoyable.”

“ _Just_ enjoyable?” scoffed Gabriel. “You told Sam he’s the best lay of your life.”

Sam startled. “She did?”

“Yep. Not to brag, but you said something pretty similar about me.”

Rowena slipped away from Gabriel to perch on Sam’s lap. “What say you, Samuel? Are you up for another round?”

At that moment, two things became apparent: 1) like Rowena, he was very, very naked, and 2) his cock was very, very happy with the proceedings.

Usually, he didn’t do one-offs. But it had been a really long time since he’d had the company of anyone but his right hand (with the exception of the previous night, apparently, but he didn’t remember that). That was fine for some people, but he was lonely. So when Rowena started kissing along his jawline, he turned his head and kissed her properly, tongue and all.

She made a delighted noise and wound her fingers into his hair, nipping at his bottom lip and immediately soothing it with her tongue. He shifted her so she was sitting with her legs around his waist instead of side-saddle on his knees.

Gabriel whistled and closed the door. “Hope your room isn’t near anyone else’s, Sammy-boy, ‘cause I have a feeling it’s about to get loud in here.”

He pressed up behind Rowena. Sam stopped kissing and switched to rolling her nipples between his fingers so he could watch Gabriel kiss her neck. She gasped and tilted her head to give him more access when he nibbled at the spot behind her ear.

“So, who, uh, who’s doing the…”

Gabriel lifted his head from Rowena’s neck. “Who’s pitching to who?”

Sam’s cheeks flushed. “Yeah.”

“I want Gabriel to fuck me,” said Rowena. Her voice held no hesitation or embarrassment.

“I guess that works out nicely for me,” said Gabriel. “You okay to fuck me while I fuck Rowena?”

“God, yes,” said Sam.

“Great. But first, foreplay.” He lifted Rowena off Sam’s lap and spun her around. “Sam, up.”

Sam got off the bed. Gabriel took his place. He opened his legs and patted the space between them. “Come on over, little witch.”

Rowena sat between his legs, her own spread wide. Gabriel slid one hand up her body to toy with her nipples and the other down between her legs.

“Can I eat you out?” Sam asked.

“Only if you don’t mind a bit of hair pulling.”

Sam almost moaned at that. “Pull as hard as you want. It’s long for a reason.”

Gabriel groaned and rested his head between Rowena’s shoulder blades. “Jeez, Sam, you can’t just say stuff like that.”

“Do we need a safeword?” Rowena asked as Sam dropped to his knees in front of her.

“Probably not, but mine’s ‘helmet,’ just in case.”

He moved Gabriel’s hand out of the way and plunged his tongue into her without pause. Her hips jerked toward his face. He dug his fingers into her hips to hold them still as he drew back and swirled his tongue around her clit.

She clenched her fingers in his hair. “ _Oh_!”

Sam did it again and got a similar reaction. Her hips made tiny little movements from Gabriel’s gyrating against her.

He let go of her hips with one hand and reached down to stroke his cock. He peered up to watch Rowena as he ate her out. Her chest heaved as Gabriel pinched her nipples and kissed her neck.

“Are hickies okay?” Gabriel mumbled against her skin.

“Only—ah—only where I can hide them.”

“Are you ashamed of us?” Gabriel teased.

“Says the one who tried to leave without saying goodbye,” she shot back.

“That’s just one night stand etiquette!”

“This wa—Sam, do that again!”

Sam gently scraped his teeth against her clit again and lifted his head to take a breath.

“Well, don’t you just look delectable,” breathed Rowena.

Sam could imagine just how he looked: lips wet and pink, his chin equally wet, cheeks flushed and hair a mess.

Gabriel whimpered at the sight of him. “I need you in me, like, yesterday.”

He nudged Rowena up and stood up as well.

“How shall we do this?” asked Rowena.

A fuzzy, alcohol-filled memory surfaced in Sam’s mind. “Didn’t you lay on the bed last night, and I fucked you while Gabe did me from behind? That was kind of, um…” He cleared his throat. “That was good.”

Rowena laughed. “Oh, look at our dear shy boy. Yes, let’s do that.”

“Wait, I thought Sam was fucking me.”

“We’ll do it the way we did it last night, with you and Sam in opposite positions.”

Rowena laid on her back, legs wide and in the air. Gabriel moved between them and lined his cock up.

“Don’t we need condoms? Lube?”

“Hello, trickster/angel here. I’ll fix any problems that come up. Plus—” he snapped his fingers— “I can prep myself in less than half the normal time.”

Sam slid two fingers into his ass and stretched experimentally. The rim stretched with his fingers. Gabriel groaned.

“Fuck me already, you tease.”

Sam slid into Gabriel only a few moments after Gabriel slid into Rowena, and Sam had to stop moving for a few moments so he wouldn’t come right then and there.

They let Sam set the pace, rocking his hips into Gabriel and causing Gabriel to rock into Rowena. Gabriel played with Rowena’s clit as he fucked her. Sam made hickies all over Gabriel’s back until he spilled into him. Rowena came next, announcing her orgasm with a shout of, “ _Gabriel_!” Gabriel followed them over the edge after a few more quick thrusts.

They collapsed in a pile on the bed and stayed there until Rowena shoved them away and said they were crushing her.

“I think I shower would be nice, and then breakfast and coffee,” said Rowena. “Samuel, what’s the chance of me getting caught in the washroom?”

“Uh, Dean probably won’t be in there. Cas and Jack are probably in the main room. I don’t know about Mom or any of the apocalypse world refugees.”

“Hmm. I suppose I’ll have to take my chances.”

“Lucky me, I can just snap myself clean.” Gabriel stretched and yawned. “Hey, you guys know that this is just a one-time thing, right? I’m not looking for a relationship.”

“Of course, darling. Witches don’t have the time for commitments.” She left, making sure to close the door behind herself.

Gabriel turned toward Sam.

Sam cleared his throat. “Yeah, no, I know. Relationships don’t usually turn out well for me.”

“Great. Just wanted to check.” He gave a jaunty little wave, snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

Sam collapsed back on his bed and sighed. He wanted a relationship, he really did. It was just never the right time, or his partner died tragically. It was like there was a higher power dedicated specifically to making sure he never had a steady relationship.

He shoved all thoughts of relationships out of his head and dragged himself out of bed. A shower sounded pretty good to him, too.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Sam finished showering and getting dressed, people had started waking up. Several triads crowded in the kitchen, drinking cups of coffee and making breakfast. They would have to go on a food run soon; they had nowhere near enough food to feed twenty-five extra people.

Gabriel and Rowena were leaning on the counter, chatting quietly. Gabriel caught Sam’s eye and winked. Sam blushed and changed course to the coffee pot.

Dean shuffled into the kitchen in his dead guy robe, Cas close on his heels. Jack trailed behind the both of them like a puppy. Sam had to suppress a laugh.

“Good morning, Sam.”

“Morning, Jack.”

Dean picked up the empty coffee pot, stared at it in disgust, and began to make a new one.

Cas cleared his throat. “Good morning, Sam. I understand that you enjoy your privacy, so I feel obligated to tell you that loud noises are not conducive to hiding your activity.”

“What?”

Cas cleared his throat again and tilted his head unsubtly in the direction of Gabriel and Rowena.

“Oh.  _Oh_. I, um…” Sam’s face heated. “I’m really sorry. Did, uh, do you know if anyone else heard?”

“I don’t believe so. Your wing of the bunker is incredibly empty. The only reason I heard is because of my super-human hearing.”

“Did Jack hear, too?”

“I tried my best to muffle the sounds and distract him.”

“Thanks, Cas. Can you, uh, avoid letting Dean know?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

Dean returned with a fresh mug of coffee. “So what’s the plan for today?”

Sam tried to will away the blush in his cheeks. “Research. I figured some of us could go through the books in the library, and the rest of us can check the archive.”

“Yay,” Dean deadpanned.

“I will write a list of each team,” said Cas. “We can announce roles once everyone is awake.”

Castiel left. Dean followed him. Jack went over to talk to some of the refugees.

Gabriel sidled up next to Sam. “So, I’ve just gotta know. Are lil Cassie and Deano a primer couple?”

“What? Oh, no.”

“Why not?”

“It’s… complicated.”

Gabriel snorted. “Sounds like every chick flick ever.”

“I thought they might form a triad with Cas’s vessel, but then Jimmy died, and they kind of… fell apart. I think they’re afraid of starting a relationship without a third.”

Gabriel scowled. “That’s stupid. The only person they ever hang out with is you, and you don’t care if there’s only two of them.”

“It is silly. But it’s their business.” A thought occurred to him. “Don’t try to set them up, okay? If they want to be together, they’ll do it on their own terms.”

“Hey, don’t worry. I’m not that invested in my little bro’s love life.”

“Okay, I’m just making sure. Interfering would… it would ruin them.”

“Where did they run off to just now, anyway?”

Sam sipped his coffee. “They’re making lists of who’s going to be researching where.”

“I still don’t get why we have to do all this research,” Gabriel said quietly. “I can just kill Michael myself.”

“Last time you fought Michael, he stabbed you,” Sam pointed out.

Gabriel waved his hand impatiently. “That was on purpose. I was creating a distraction so everyone could get through the portal.”

Sam had his doubts about that, but he let it slide. “It isn’t just about finding a way to kill him. It’s about letting them get their revenge. Michael destroyed their planet, their lives. For them, this is- this is their Loki.”

Gabriel’s shoulders slumped. “I get it.”

Sam tried to take it back. “Sorry. I didn’t think-”

“Didn’t think it still hurts?”

Sam ducked his head and stared at the floor. “Sorry,” he said again. “I was being a dumbass.” He pushed off from the counter and set down his unfinished mug of coffee. He cleared his throat. “I’m going to get a headstart on the research.”

He moved away from the kitchen, which was slowly filling up with more and more people, and down into the depths of the bunker, where the dungeon and the archives were located.

The archives were so still compared to the upper levels of the bunker. There was always an eerie calmness there, like it had been left untouched by humans for years. It reminded Sam of the garden in  _The Secret Garden_ \- his own little sanctuary away from people. Even though he was usually only around three or four other people, it still got overwhelming.

He pulled some books off the bookshelf and sat down at the tiny table in the middle of the room. Sam didn’t know how long he spent down there, steadily working his way through old musty tomes, before Dean, Bobby, and several of the apocalypse world survivors made their way inside.

“Okay,” said Dean, “everybody grab a book and start looking. If you find something that might help, tell me, Sam, or Bobby.”

Sam gestured to the small stack of books on the floor next to his chair. “I already checked this stack right here.”

He went back to his book. He was almost halfway through the third chapter when something cold touched his foot and he startled so badly that his knees hit the underside of the table.

“You okay, Sammy?”

“Y-yeah. Sorry. Spider.”

Dean snorted and went back to his book.

Sitting across the table from him, Rowena winked. Sam glared at her and mouthed,  _What?_ She grinned and moved her foot from his foot to his lower leg. Sam jiggled his leg and her foot fell to the floor.

He tried to focus on his book again, but she moved her foot back to his leg and up to his inner thigh.

He stood up abruptly. “Bathroom,” he said. “Back in a bit.”

He left, knowing that Rowena would see through his excuse. Sure enough, she followed a few seconds behind him.

“Didn’t you like my attention, Samuel?” she teased.

“Not in front of my  _brother_. Anyone could have seen!”

“Why, Samuel, are you ashamed of me?” She shook her head in mock sadness. “There go my hopes of a “friends with benefits” situations.”

“Not friends just yet. Maybe frenemies with benefits.”

“Hmm. Any interest in furthering our friendly relationship?”

“As long as we can keep the “with benefits” part in the bedroom.”

Rowena raised her eyebrows. “You’re serious?”

He’d said it before and he’d say it again: one-offs weren’t his thing. But what Rowena was suggesting wasn’t a one-off. It was a relationship without the relationship. “If you’re interested.”

“Perhaps we can discuss terms in the near future. And while we’re on the subject… I’m certainly open to including a certain angel in our… friendship.”

“Maybe. But let’s wait until the world isn’t ending.”

She nodded. “Fair enough.” She gestured to the door that lead to the archives. “After you.”

They settled back into their chairs without disturbing anyone else. Rowena’s foot bumped against Sam’s, but she didn’t try to push it. He had to admit that it was kind of nice to sit like that, like little kids who were sharing a secret.

Then again, he’d always had bad luck with secrets.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam couldn’t say he was surprised when Gabriel showed up at the bar Sam was frequenting that night.

“Are you God? Because you’re the answer to all my prayers.”

Sam snorted. “That was _terrible_. Are your pickup lines always this cheesy?”

“Cheesy is my middle name.” Gabriel hopped up onto one of the barstools next to Sam. “So, why are you out here instead of back at the bunker?”

Sam jerked his head toward Dean, who was playing pool and flirting with a short brunette. “Dean wanted to visit a bar.”

“Missing the good old days, huh?”

“Is that what you call them?”

Gabriel laughed. “So, Rowena tells me you’re interested in the occasional hookup?”

“Not until after we stop Michael and Lucifer.”

“C’mon, if you’ve got enough time to go bar hopping, you’ve got enough time for a quickie.” He peered up at Sam through his eyelashes. “Whaddaya say you and me go find a room for the night?”

Sam glanced back at Dean. He seemed pretty involved in his pool game. “Lead the way.”

Gabriel perked up. “Excellent. Follow me, sweet cheeks.”

 **_Sam_ ** _sent to_ **_Dean_ ** _at 9:32: leaving early. dont wait up._

* * *

 Sam woke up to the sound of his own voice moaning as he came. He opened his eyes blearily to see Gabriel at the end of the bed, letting Sam’s cock fall out of his mouth and wiping come from his face.

“How’s that for a good morning?” he said smugly.

“Better than an alarm clock,” Sam mumbled. He checked the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand and sat straight up. “Fuck! Dean’s gonna flip!”

“Calm down, we’ve got time.” Gabriel dragged himself up the bed and tried to lay on top of Sam.

“I still have to find a way to get back to the bunker! Dean has the Impala, and I don’t think a cab will take me; I’ll have to -”

“Shhh.” Gabriel placed his index finger against Sam’s mouth. “Chill. I can take us back.” He snapped his fingers to demonstrate.

Sam’s frantic heartbeat slowed. He flopped back onto the pillows and scrubbed his hands over his face.

“You’re gonna give yourself a heart attack one of these days,” Gabriel quipped. “Just relax.”

Sam slapped his arm. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

They laid there for a few minutes before Sam sat up again. “Okay, get up. I still have to get dressed and stuff.”

Gabriel rolled off of Sam and watched him get out of bed. “I mean, I wouldn’t complain if you _didn’t_ get dressed.”

Sam rolled his eyes and pulled on his underwear. “Perv.”

It didn’t take Sam very long to get dressed and brush his hair into some semblance of normalcy.

“Ready?” asked Gabriel, who had simply snapped himself into his clothes.

Sam nodded. Gabriel grabbed Sam’s shoulder with one hand and snapped with the other.

They were outside the garage.

“I would’ve just gone straight inside, but,” he shrugged, “wards and all.”

“This is fine,” said Sam. “Thanks.”

They went inside. Sam headed for his bedroom and Gabriel wandered off to… well, Sam didn’t know. In the kitchen, Sam bumped into a still-sleepy Dean.

“Hey, Sammy. When’d you get back?”

“Uh, a couple minutes ago.”

Dean grinned. “Long night, huh?”

Sam knew he was blushing, but he ignored it. He shrugged. “Yeah, kind of.”

“Anything to do with that cute blonde who was flirting with you last night?”

“Kind of,” Sam said again. It wasn’t a total lie. Gabriel was blonde, and he _had_ flirted with Sam.

Dean’s grin got even bigger. He clapped Sam on the shoulder. “That’s my boy.”

Sam snorted and shrugged Dean’s hand off. “You made breakfast yet, jerk?”

“Nah. Was getting ready to go on a food run, though. Wanna come?”

“Sure. Lemme brush my teeth first.”

“Cas is comin’ too. It’ll be the original Team Free Will.”

Half an hour later, they were loading their groceries into the trunk of the Impala. The back of Sam’s neck started to prickle. He rubbed it unconsciously and looked around.

“Winchesters.”

Sam spun around. Michael was standing only a few feet away from the Impala, watching them with an expression that was half apathetic, half deadly.

“But the portal-” Sam said.

“My brother’s grace was very helpful in opening a new rift,” said Michael. He flicked his wrist and his angel blade fell in to his hand. “Unfortunately for both of us, it used all of the grace he had left. He’s dead now. You’ll be the same in a few minutes.” He raised his blade. “You were worthy adversaries.”

At the same time that Michael lunged forward with his blade in hand, Sam opened the satchel of holy oil and poured it out on the ground. Dean lit his lighter and threw it on the ground by the oil, which caught fire almost immediately, though not before Michael’s angel blade sliced through Sam’s forearm.

“Get in the car!” Dean shouted. He slammed on the gas before Sam and Cas even closed their doors. Sam shoved his seatbelt into the buckle and twisted around to see Michael backing away from the flames.

Dean drove like a bat out of hell. Fortunately, the roads weren’t very populated in the morning, and the roads by the bunker were rarely populated at all.

“Should we drive around for a while, make sure he’s not on our trail?”

Cas leaned forward. “That’s not a bad idea. The bunker’s wards are very strong, but I’d rather not test them if we don’t have to.”

“I’ll call Mom and let her know what’s going on.” Sam pulled out his phone and hit speed dial three.

Mary picked up after the second ring. “Hi, Sam. Everything okay?”

“Is Bobby there? He should probably hear this too.”

“Yeah, hang on.” There was some shuffling on the other end. “Okay, you’re on speaker.”

“Anyone else around?” The rest of the refugees should know about Michael, but Sam didn’t want them to find out like this.

“Just me and Bobby.”

Sam got straight to the point. “Michael’s in our world. He used Lucifer’s grace to open a portal, he found us at the grocery store. We’re trying to throw him off our tail now.”

Bobby swore, “ _Balls_!”

“Are you okay?” asked Mary. “Are you hurt?”

Sam glanced down at his injured arm, which was losing blood quickly. “Just a little. We’ll fix it when we stop somewhere.”

Dean took his eyes off the road for a second to gauge Sam’s injury. “Jesus, Sam, get off the phone so Cas can wrap that!”

“I gotta go,” Sam said into the phone. “We’ll call you again when we’re away from Michael.”

“Okay. Stay safe.”

“You too.” Sam hung up.

Cas already had the first aid kit open. Sam pulled his sleeve up so they could get a good look at his wound.

“I don’t think it needs stitches,” said Sam. Cas started wrapping bandages around it, applying steady pressure to stop the bleeding.

“We’ll have to wait until we get back to the bunker to do anything more,” said Cas.

“It’s fine, Cas,” said Sam. He leaned back and rested his head against the window. “I’ll be fine.”


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as the three of them walked into the bunker, there was a complete uproar. Apparently one of the refugees had overheard Sam’s phone call with Mary and Bobby and no one knew what was true and what was rumours.

“Jesus, Sam, your arm,” Gabriel blurted. “Hang on, I’ll heal you.”

Gabriel reached out and the metallic scent of grace filled the air.

Sam jerked his arm out of Gabriel’s reach without thinking. “No!”

Gabriel  stopped abruptly. Sam’s cheeks filled with blood.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m just not… comfortable, with…”

“Oh,” said Gabriel.

The group stood in awkward silence until Rowena said, “Come along, Samuel, I’ll heal your arm. Your brother and his angel can fill everybody else in by themselves, yes?”

Sam followed her silently into the kitchen. He sat down on the counter while Rowena bustled around, collecting ingredients. Since when did they keep spell ingredients in the kitchen?

As though she was reading his mind, Rowena said, “This isn’t quite a spell. It’s a salve I learned when I was a girl. Just a few herbs and such.”

She put it all into a mortar and ground it up into a thick paste. “Can you unwrap the bandage?”

Sam untied the knot with his free hand and slowly unwound the bandage. The bleeding had mostly stopped, but it was still unpleasant to look at. Rowena winced at the sight of it.

“This might sting a bit,” she said, before scooping the paste out and spreading it on his arm. There was a slight tingle at first, but then it melted into such a wonderful sensation that Sam gasped and his whole body relaxed.

“That is _amazing_ ,” he said. Distantly, he thought he might have been slurring his words.

Rowena said something in Latin. Sam watched in amazement as the wound closed up, leaving only a silvery-white scar behind.

“I thought it wasn’t a spell?”

“Not _quite_ a spell. The salve works on its own, but a few words help it along.” She put the mortar and pestle in the sink. “So what happened?”

“Michael,” said Sam, the reality of the situation setting back in. “Michael’s in our world. He opened a portal with Lucifer’s grace.”

“And what of… what of Lucifer?”

“He’s dead. Michael drained his grace and killed him.”

Rowena inhaled sharply. Her hands trembled. “He’s dead?”

“As a doornail,” Sam confirmed. “He’s finally gone.”

Rowena leaned against the counter facing away from Sam. The only sounds in the room were their breathing. Sam let Rowena compose herself while he did the same.

Rowena turned around, fresh resolve on her face. “Let’s go find a way to kill an archangel.”

* * *

 Twenty-five people crowded around the table in the war room.

“Okay,” said Dean. “We’ve been looking for a day and a half. Has _anyone_ found _anything_ that might work?”

One girl raised her hand. “Angel banishing sigils?”

Cas shook his head. “It only disorients the angel until they are out of range. They can easily find their way back afterwards.”

“Anyone else?” asked Dean.

No one said anything.

Sam leaned forward in his chair, his shoulders hunched and his heart pounding. “We can try to find the four Horsemen from the other universe. Get their rings and throw Michael in the Cage.”

Four resounding _no_ s came from around the table. Sam glanced up in surprise. Dean and Cas he’d expected, but Gabriel and Rowena?

“What’s this about a cage?” asked Bobby.

“Lucifer’s Cage,” Sam explained. “The four Horsemen’s rings are the key, and if we get those and open the Cage, we can trap Michael in it.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you mention it before? Looks like we got our answer right here.”

“Because Michael’s gotta wear someone into it, and once they’re in, they sure as hell ain’t getting out,” Dean snapped. “The cage is a thousand times worse than Hell. And then there’s the chance that whoever Michael ends up wearing might not be able to overpower him enough to get him in the damn thing.”

He took a deep breath and folded his arms across his chest. “Any other ideas?”

Silence.

Dean ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Fine. We’ll keep looking. Meeting adjourned, or whatever.”

The group dispersed. Most people stayed silent or gathered in smaller groups of three or four whisper to each other.

Sam drifted over to Gabriel. “Hey,” he said. “I’m sorry about earlier. With the grace thing.”

Gabriel’s mouth tightened. “It’s fine. You don’t have any reason to trust me anyway.”

Sam was taken aback. “What? No, that’s not why I didn’t want you to heal me.”

Gabriel glanced up in surprise. “Why didn’t you, if not because I’m untrustworthy?”

Sam shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “I can kind of… _feel_ the grace. Taste it. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“You can _feel grace_? That - that shouldn’t be possible.”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, well.”

“Does it - nevermind.”

“No, go ahead.”

Gabriel shifted in his chair to face more towards Sam. “Does it have anything to do with your time in the Cage?”

Sam leaned against the table. “Probably.”

“I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “How can you suffer the way you do and _still_ think it’s a good idea to sacrifice yourself all the time?”

Sam hung his head and stared at the floor.

Gabriel stood up and shook his head again. “Goodnight, Sam. Sweet dreams.”

* * *

 Sam’s dreams were, in fact, not sweet. He woke in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, the taste of blood and grace still lingering on his tongue. He dragged himself out of bed and into the kitchen to make some tea.

The kitchen light was already on when he got there. Rowena was sitting at the table, drinking out of a large mug while a kettle of tea boiled on the stove.

“Rowena?” Sam asked, blinking in the bright light. His voice was heavy with sleep.

Rowena startled badly and jumped up from her chair. “Oh. Samuel.” She sat back down. “What on earth on you doing up at this hour?”

He shrugged and stood there awkwardly.

“Cuppa?” Rowena offered.

Sam nodded. Rowena got him a mug out of the cupboard and poured him some tea, like he was the guest and she lived there instead of the other way around. They sat at the table and sipped their tea in companionable silence.

“Nightmare?” said Rowena finally.

Sam nodded.

“Me too,” she said. “I know he’s dead now, but…” She shook her head and clutched her mug.

“I get it.” Sam didn’t doubt that he would have nightmares about Lucifer for the rest of his life.

“Gabriel’s helped me with it the past couple nights.”

“Where is he now?”

Rowena shrugged. “Away, I suppose. Dealing with his own version of hell.”

“Have you tried praying to him?”

“No. I don’t want to be a bother.”

“If he helps you, I bet you could help him.”

“Who’s going to help you?”

Sam shrugged and drank his tea. It was going cold.

Rowena rested her hand on top of his. “We could all three of us help each other.”

Sam met here eyes. She seemed genuine. It would be so nice to hold them again…

“We should pray,” he whispered. She nodded. He squeezed his eyes closed. _Dear Archangel Gabriel, who art in heaven -_

“No way am I in Heaven. I’m still pretending to be dead.”

Sam opened his eyes. Gabriel was leaning on the counter on the other side of the room.

“Did you guys order an archangel?”

“Why, yes we did,” said Rowena. She stood up, leaving her mug on the table, and took Gabriel’s hand. She paused by the door. “Come along, Samuel.”

Sam followed along obediently. He turned off the light on his way out of the kitchen. “I think my bed is bigger than yours,” Sam told her. She changed course to Sam’s room.

They had a hard time figuring out positions while the lights were out, but eventually they settled in. Rowena was positively tiny in Sam’s arms, and Gabriel was a warm line of comfort against Sam’s back.

“Aren’t you a little small to be a big spoon?” Sam murmured.

Gabriel snorted. “Go to sleep, you big moose.”

Sam let himself drift away into dreamland. It was the best sleep he’d had in ages.


	5. Chapter 5

“What the _fuck_?”

Sam squinted at Dean through the sudden harsh light. He sat straight up, jostling Gabriel and Rowena. “Dean!”

Dean gawked as Gabriel and Rowena sat up, rubbing their eyes and pushing their hair off their faces.

“Huh,” said Gabriel. “This is awkward. See you knuckleheads later, I guess.” He gave a short wave, snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

Rowena flung the covers off herself and tied her robe closed. “Er, yes. See you later.” She walked out the door, her head held high, sophisticated as ever (although there was a noticeable blush on her cheeks).

Dean stared at Rowena as she left, mouth agape, then stared back at Sam. “Dude,” he said, “Rowena and _Gabriel_?”

Sam blushed scarlet. “We didn’t _do_ anything.” Which they hadn’t, at least for that night.

“Oh.” Dean scratched the back of his head. “Are you guys, uh… dating?”

It sounded so awkward coming out of his mouth, like finding out his little brother was dating people was more embarrassing than walking in on him having sex.

“No!” said Sam. “They don’t - we just -” He floundered for the right words to explain. Sure, they’d agreed to be friends with benefits, but sex didn’t have anything to do with what they’d done the previous night.

“We were talking about Lucifer,” he said.

“Oh.” Pause. “You, uh, you doin’ okay?”

Sam rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I just… don’t know how to believe he’s really gone this time, y’know?”

“I get it. Hey, if you ever need to talk, I’m here. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.” Sam offered him a small smile. “Thanks, Dean.”

They stood in silence for a few seconds, until Dean cleared his throat. “Well, I guess this explains why Gabe and Rowena didn’t want you doing the whole Cage thing.”

“What?”

“They won’t get laid as often if you’re -”

“Dean!”

Dean escaped out the door, cackling as Sam furiously threw his pillow at him.

* * *

 The rest of the day was fairly standard, aside from Dean wiggling his eyebrows suggestively when Sam sat in between Gabriel and Rowena at lunch.

As everybody finished eating and migrated back to the library and the archives, Gabriel gently grabbed Sam's arm. "Hey, Sam, can we talk?"

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Sure." He couldn't think of anything Gabriel might want to talk to him about. Unless he was regretting starting their... thing. Relationship? Or maybe the cuddling last night had been too emotional, and he wanted to clarify the boundaries of their friends-with-benefits situation.

“How’s your arm doing?”

Sam rubbed the recent scar on his forearm. “It’s fine. Doesn’t even tingle.”

“That’s good.” Gabriel cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I tried to heal you without your permission. I didn't even think about how grace might affect you."

“Hey, it’s okay. You didn’t know, and you already apologized. You were just trying to help.”

Gabriel nodded, looking unconvinced. “Hey, listen. I don’t want you getting hurt again, okay? So be careful next time.”

“There might not have to be a next time.” Rowena set a large, glowing white orb on the table.  “This is a tracking spell. As long as Michael is in this universe, we’ll know where he is. Takes away his element of surprise a bit, doesn’t it?”

“You’re tracking Michael?” Gabriel picked up the orb an examined it. “Is it one-way? Can he sense you?”

“Not even a trace,” Rowena preened. “It’s from a spell I found in the Book of the Dead. It was easy, really.”

“Wow. That’s amazing, Rowena.”

“I know,” she said. “Thank me later, Samuel.” She pinched his cheek. “We still have to find a way to kill him. Come along, boys. Research awaits.”

* * *

 Sam woke up to yelling. He grabbed his gun from under his pillow and crept down the hall. The noises were coming from the kitchen. As he got closer, he realized there were people crowded around the door, trying to see inside. Sam shoved his way through to see what was happening.

Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn’t this. Gabriel was supporting himself on the table, bleeding and ready to collapse in a way that reminded Sam vividly of his post-Fenrir state. Had he been _stabbed_?

Rowena was yelling at him and yanking open cabinets and throwing around spell ingredients like a human tornado.

“You stupid, stupid angel!” she half-sobbed, sweeping dirty plates off the table. They shattered against the floor. “Don’t you ever _think_ , didn’t you think about how _we_ feel? That we care?”

Gabriel sagged against the counter, his face growing more and more ashen by the second. “Relax, I’ll be fine.”

“You can’t even stand up!” she shouted. “Sam, get him on the table.”

Sam scooped him up bridal style despite his protests and laid him on his back on the table. Gabriel groaned involuntarily and pressed his hand against his wound.

“Hey, everyone go back to sleep,” shouted Dean, corralling the herd of people away from the kitchen. “They’ve got this, give ‘em space.”

“Dean, get some bandages,” Rowena ordered. “Sam -”

“Keep pressure on the wound, I got it.”

“Good.” She furiously ground up herbs with the mortar and pestle. “Tear off a piece of his shirt by the wound.”

Sam ripped off a blood-soaked scrap of Gabriel’s undershirt as gently as possible and handed it to Rowena, who added it to the mortar.

Dean returned with the bandages and left again to take care of the rest of the wide-awake inhabitants of the bunker. Rowena immediately tore off a piece and put all the mashed-up herbs and cloth onto the bandage and wrapped it up into a neat little bundle. She tied it with some twine and pressed it into Gabriel’s hand.

She closed her eyes and placed one trembling hand over Gabriel’s wound. “Sana in eius dilectione mea, anima mea, et in sanguine suo.”

The effect was immediate. The flow of blood lessened. Color returned to his face. The wound shrank before their eyes until it was the size of the entry hole of a small bullet.

“Oh, _wow_ ,” Gabriel moaned, going boneless on the table. “That is the _shit_.”

“Gabriel, what happened?” asked Sam.

“I’ll tell you what happened,” snapped Rowena. “This - this - _this absolute idiot_ stole my tracking spell and confronted Michael on his own, and almost lost his life doing it!”

“I killed him though, didn’t I?” Gabriel snarled.

“You killed him?” said Sam. “How?”

“Archangel blade.”

Sam sighed, half annoyed and half relieved. “The plan was to let the refugees kill him, remember? Let them get their revenge.”

“Yeah, but you got hurt. They could’ve gotten hurt, too. My way, everyone’s safe.”

“ _You_ got hurt.”

“Who cares?”

“Who _cares_? _We_ care, Gabriel! _I_ care!” shouted Rowena. “And our -” she took a shuddering breath and continued “- our lives are not more important than yours.”

“Rowena’s right, Gabe,” said Sam. He took Gabriel’s hand in his, hoping against hope that he wasn’t about to fuck everything up. “We care about you. And I can’t speak for Rowena, but I think she might feel the same way about you that I do.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know you said you didn’t want our relationship to be romantic,” Sam said, staring at the floor, “but I can’t help how I feel.”

Silence. Sam hesitantly raised his head to meet Gabriel’s eyes. They were wide and disbelieving.

“Are you serious?”

Sam bit his lip and nodded.

Gabriel looked at Rowena, who was trying to hold back tears. “And… do you…”

She nodded too.

“I’m not asking for you to feel the same way,” Sam said, but Gabriel interrupted him.

“Of course I feel the same way about you, _and_ about Rowena, but I don’t understand why you feel that way about _me_.”

“You _care_ about us,” said Rowena.

“And you’re sexy,” Sam added, which startled both Gabriel and Rowena into laughing. “But seriously, you’re there for us when we need you. You take care of us. You make us feel safe.”

“You’re such a sap,” Gabriel sniffed. The corners of his eyes were getting wet.

“I believe,” said Rowena hoarsely, “that this is the Hallmark scene where we kiss.”

And it was, so they did.

* * *

 There was a person in his bed. They were sprawled over his body, and their curly red hair was in his mouth.

The door creaking caught his attention. He pushed away some of the hair to see what had caused the noise.

Gabriel froze in place with the door half open. “Aw, shoot.”

“Sneaking out again? I thought we were passed that,” Sam teased.

Gabriel sauntered over and planted a kiss on Sam’s lips. “No way. I was going to surprise you guys with breakfast in bed.”

“If you bring us some, I’ll pretend to be surprised.”

Gabriel snorted. “You’re a dork.” He straightened up. “I’ll get some pancakes and coffee and stuff, and if you’re a good boy, maybe I’ll let you use the syrup.”

Rowena stirred. Sam stroked her hair. “Morning.”

“Morning,” she yawned.

“Perfect timing, beautiful,” said Gabriel. “You want some breakfast in bed?”

“Absolutely. But first -” She stretched and pecked him on the lips. “Good morning kisses.” She slumped back down on top of Sam. “Now you can get breakfast.”

“Love you both. Be back in a jiffy.”

“Love you,” said Rowena.

“Love you,” Sam repeated softly.

It was good to be safe again.


End file.
